South Korea president urges Pyongyang dialogue after DMZ blasts

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech during the 78th Armed Forces Day at a military base in Gyeryong, South Korea, on Thursday. | Pool / via AFP-Jiji

AFP-Jiji

Oct 1, 2026

Seoul – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged North Korea on Thursday to return to dialogue, a day after Seoul’s military demanded an apology over a blast in the demilitarized zone that severely injured three South Korean soldiers.

Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Three South Korean officers were severely injured in the Sept. 21 explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the heavily mined buffer dividing the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice. One lost his foot.

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